The Meaning of Power
by TheSilverboar
Summary: What if Gabe found out about Percy's powers when he was a kid and reacted...violently, what if Poseidon was stopped from saving him, and what if someone else, stepped in instead. This has a badass Super-Percy who is more war like but actually has to train to get to the level I'm going to have him at.
1. Chapter 1

**AN: A bit of a warning, this chapter can be pretty gruesome and will result in a much more warlike Percy.**

**AN: This story uses the movie ages instead of the book ones for the prophecy and such.**

The Meaning of Power

Chapter one

-Percy-

Hell. That was the only place that ten year old Percy Jackson could think of where such pain could be possible. A scream passed his lips as the multi-headed whip, Gabe had proudly called it a cat of nine tails, cracked against his back, its metal barbs stripping the flesh from his back as he felt blood dribble down his skin. "This is what you deserve you little _FREAK_!" Gabe roared drunkenly "I'm going to make sure you can't hurt hardworking people like me anymore with your unnaturalness!".

The sharp crack of the whip, the ripping pain across his mutilated back, and his loud screams that he knew couldn't escape the soundproof room that Gabe had built. These three things were the entirety of his world for hours on end, as he was forced to stare ahead, straight into the lifeless, unseeing, eyes of his mother's corpse as blood ran from her cut throat.

"Please," he choked out between his sobs, "someone, anyone. Save me.". He never expected for his prayer to be heard…or the results that it would unleash.

-Poseidon-

It was a thoughtful god of the sea that walked through the gardens of Olympus, strolling between the beds of flowers and listened to the soft sounds of music coming from the Muses across the way. As he stepped into the courtyard of statues, behemoths of gold depicting the 'triumphs' of the gods…almost all of which showed a stylized Zeus in some form or another causing him to snort in derision at his brothers arrogance before he collapsed to the ground as he felt a powerful, pain filled, prayer resonate within his mind _'please,'_ he heard _'someone, anyone. Save me.'_.

"Percy." He breathed out in horror as the prayer sent him the images of what had befell and what was befalling his only demigod child before shooting to his feet and preparing to flash away to save him.

Before he could flash away he heard a cynical voice from behind him ask "Who's Percy?", the hatred and amusement in her voice clear to him and clearly revealed who she was.

"I do not answer to you Athena." He growled before preparing to flash away once again only to get thrown from his feet by a blast of magic from Athena which slammed him into a statue.

"I found him trying to flash to his demigod child, attempting to save the little bastard's life." Athena simpered to Zeus who stepped out from a shadow.

Angrily he tried to flash away only to feel an immense pain at his attempt , "it will not work brother," Zeus sneered at him "the spell I gave Athena is one that will prevent you from flashing anywhere for a week. By how scared you looked I'd say that your child is dying quite painfully right now…good. This is his punishment for being born against the oath.". With those parting words Zeus and Athena left laughing at him.

Paling in fear he ran to his temple on Olympus and rushed over to a fountain and summoned up a rainbow "Iris!" he yelled "This is an emergency! I need to get into contact with Hades!".

Iris clearly understood his distress and patched him through as he saw a vision of Hades, Persephone, and, to his surprise, Kratos in the throne room. "Poseidon," Persephone gasped in shock, being the first one to see him "what are you doing here?".

"Hades," he begged, not caring as he felt tears roll down my face "my son is being killed! Zeus had Athena curse me so I cannot flash away for the next week!".

"Your son?" Kratos asked in surprise "I thought you had sworn to not have any more demigod children.".

"I broke the damn oath!" he screamed in outrage "Just save my son!".

"And why should I?" Hades demanded "Why should I save him?".

"Because I tried to help you save your own children brother," he growled "I was the one who sent you the warning about Zeus' plan to kill your children all those years ago.".

"That was you?" Hades asked softly, all the anger that had previously flowed from the god of the dead now replaced with shock "You tried to…to _save_ my children?".

With a grunt the god of strength and power rose from his seat next to Hades' throne "I will save the child Poseidon," Kratos told him "and I will hide him here…my new champion will be safe.". Before he could reply the strongest of the winged enforcers...and one of the strongest gods in existence, flashed away.

-Percy-

I'm dying. That was the only thought that filled his thought as he felt the whip crack against his back once again, no longer even registering the pain that he felt with each blow. When he saw a mountain of a man appear in a burst of light he thought he was hallucinating as he bled out. As such, he didn't even bat an eye when the massive man grabbed Gabe and made him vanish in a flash of light, just like when the giant man entered. Before the man scooped him up gently and flashed him away as he passed out.

Slowly he opened his eyes, not sure what he expected to see, before looking around to see what looked like a throne room as he felt hands running through his hair, he heard a gentle humming, and he saw the man who he now realized was real leaning against a wall. "Ah," the man said straightening "you're awake.".

Instantly the fingers in his hair paused before resuming as did the humming and another man entered the room along with three more individuals wearing robes. "Hello young Perseus," the unhooded man said as he sat in the large black throne before studying him "it is…good, to meet my nephew.".

"Nephew?!" he yelled out in shock before doubling over in pain as fire traced the wounds at his back and gentle hands laid him back down.

"Yes, I said nephew." The man said with obvious amusement "your father is my brother…and the one who contacted us to save you when he was stopped from trying.".

"M-my father _wanted_ to save me?" he asked in stunned confusion.

"From what I saw," his savior answered "if he hadn't been prevented then he would have taken you and never left you out of his sight again kid. He would have succeeded too if your other Uncle and your Cousin hadn't prevented your father from reaching you.".

"Another Uncle?" he asked in surprise "I have more family?".

A soft laugh sounded from above him causing him to look up at the source allowing him to see a beautiful woman with flowing brown hair that curled softly around her face, flawless tanned skin, and soft brown eyes as she smiled at him **(AN: movie appearance)**. "More than you could possibly know Perseus," the woman said as she leaned down to kiss his forehead "my name is Persephone, and I am your aunt.".

Blinking in shock he registered the name and asked "Like the goddess of springtime?".

"More than you could possibly know." his savior said with a laugh as he walked over before waving his hand and making a chair appear "Tell me Percy, what do you know about the Greek gods?". Over the next hour his savior, who he found out was named Kratos, his Uncle, who was Hades, and his aunt Persephone explained to him about how he was a demigod son of Poseidon and the whole situation with his Uncle Zeus and the rest of the Pantheon.

"Percy," Kratos said afterwards "how would you like to be my Champion?".

"Champion?" he asked confused.

"Well the gods and goddesses can select a demigod, who isn't their child, and name them their champion. That demigod will receive all the powers that a child of that god or goddess would have, one weapon, and armor which can be one piece or even a full set. But a demigod can only be the full champion of one god or goddess but can be the pseudo-champion of as many gods or goddesses who accept them.".

"Pseudo-champion?" he asked, even more confused than before.

"Same things as a champion only you only get one power as well as one weapon or piece of armor." Kratos elaborated.

"Y-you really want me?" he asked softly, not able to comprehend that someone would actually trust him to do anything.

Rolling his eyes Kratos leaned over and ruffled his hair before replying "Yes, I want you.".

Pride welled up within him as he heard that before he paused to think about his new patron's domains, "Kratos," he began slowly "you're the god of strength and power correct?".

"Yes," Kratos answered in the affirmative but was clearly confused "why do you ask?".

"Does that include _demigod_ powers?" he asked and saw realization flash across his patron's face while the hooded figures in the back, who had yet to speak, chuckled.

Snapping his fingers Kratos summoned a piece of paper before placing a hand on his forehead and placing his other palm on the paper as words flowed from his fingertips onto the paper for a few moments before it stopped. "This is a list of all of your powers Percy." Kratos said before looking at the list intrigued and whistling "Impressive." Before handing the list over to him.

Reading it he saw that it read: **(AN: list composed from what he does in the books)**

Ability to breath under water

Ability to control water and all other liquids

Ability to be healed by water

Ability to gain energy boosts from water

Immune to water pressure

Ability to see hot and cold water currents

Ability to speak to all horses and horse like creatures

Ability to talk to all sea creatures

Great demigod strength

Having fighting skill enhanced by water

Ability to read Greek

Ability to cause earthquakes

Ability to summon storms

Resistant to fire

Ability to navigate anywhere on the sea

Ability to control and brings ships to life

Able to summon water from nothing

"I can do all that?" he asked in wonder at the sheer enormity of the powers laid out before him.

"Yes you can Percy." Kratos said thoughtfully before a wide grin split the face of the god of power "Hey Percy, how would you like to help me with a little…experiment?".

"What kind of experiment?" he asked curiously.

"Well," Kratos began slowly "if I can do what I'm thinking, and what I think you alluded to earlier, I can swap out one of your demigod powers for another one.".

"I'm in." he said instantly before pausing and asking "Can I have a pen so I can make changes to the list so you know what I want?". In response Kratos flashed a quill into his hand and crossed out certain items on the list until it now read:

Ability to breath under water

Ability to control water and all other liquids

Ability to alter the body's structure

Ability to gain energy boosts from water

Immune to water pressure

Ability to see hot and cold water currents

Able to talk to all animals

Enhanced demigod speed

Great demigod strength

Having fighting skill enhanced by water

Understanding all languages

Ability to cause earthquakes

Ability to summon storms

Immune to, and able to control, fire

Ability to navigate anywhere on the sea

Ability to control and brings ships to life

Able to summon water from nothing

"You are going to be one _dangerous_ demigod," one of the hooded figures said impressed "but why did you put 'alter the body's structure to replace your healing power?".

"Because it can do that and more." He said happily before elaborating at their confused expressions "I can use it to speed up my body's natural healing, I can rearrange my muscles and bones to make bone weapons grow…and I should probably turn of my pain receptors there if I do that. I should even be able to change my appearance at will through it.".

"HAH!" Kratos crowed "I have a cunning champion! Bragging rights are mine!" making his jaw drop at the incredibly powerful god…acting like a twelve year old. "Not to mention the powers he'll get when I make him my champion.".

"And my Pseudo champion ." Persephone piped in while continuing to stroke his hair.

"And mine." Hades added.

"And ours." The leader of the hooded figures said as they dropped the hoods to reveal three figures very similar to Kratos.


	2. Chapter 2

**AN: Alright, I couldn't decide between this story and 'Hephaestus the fallen one' so go to my profile on which story should be added to the seven story main cycle.**

The Meaning of Power

Chapter 2

-Percy-

"Percy," his new Patron Kratos said cheerfully "I'd like you to meet my family. First is my brother Zelos, the god of Zeal.", at the introduction said deity stepped forward with a cocky grin. Like Kratos Zelos was tall and built like a mountain, even if not to the extent Kratos was, and had auburn hair instead of the dark black of Kratos and a few other small differences but no one could mistake them for anything other than the brothers that they were.

"Hey there little guy," Zelos said with a small wave which he hesitantly returned "I'm looking forward to watching what all you accomplish as the Champion of our family.".

"Next we have my sister," Kratos continued passionately, the love the god of power held for his family clearly seen "the lovely Bia, goddess of Force.".

"Hey there Percy," Bia said as she crouched down to smile at him kindly "I'm looking forward to spending time with you and I'll be sure to rescue from my two idiot brothers when need be. Just try to not make too many Star Wars Jokes and we'll be good, alright?".

"Oh come on sis," Zelos whined jokingly "those are fun!".

"Yeah but if you do one again I'll turn you into Jabba the Hut." Bia said in that too sweet voice all women can do that screams danger.

Eyes wide the god of Zeal backed away "Shutting up." Zelos said simply causing Bia to smirk triumphantly while Kratos snickered in amusement.

"And last but certainly not least is my amazing Mother Styx, guardian of the river of the unbreakable oath." Kratos finished happily as said woman stepped forward.

"Hello little one," the woman, Styx, said kindly, a motherly, or perhaps grandmotherly, tone of affection in her voice "I'm sorry about what you had to endure, but you're with us now, and we won't let anyone to something like that to you again.".

"Really?" he asked hesitantly, scared of the thought of being treated like he had been with Gabe.

"Really." Styx assured him while his Aunt Persephone, who was still running her fingers through his hair, smiled at him.

"And I have something that might make you feel a little bit better Percy," his Uncle Hades said kindly before gesturing towards the door as two people entered. The first was a little girl about his age who he thought was beautiful, she had flowing dark brown hair and amber colored eyes, paired with her pale white skin he couldn't help but blush at how pretty she was. The figure next to her though took his breath away as he saw…

"Mom!" he yelled as he tried to get up and run forward towards the spirit of his mother, falling to the ground in pain from the wounds on his back but continued to try and push himself off the ground, desperate to reach his mother.

"Percy!" she cried as she shot forward and enveloped him. Her spirit was strange to feel, it was cool, not cold or hot but simply cool to the touch and felt almost moist, like when you rest your hand just on the surface of water. He cried as he clutched onto her spectral form, the memories of watching her try to defend him from Gabe flashing through his mind, from the moment Gabe had seen the water he was drinking float up from the glass to heal his arm to the moment Gabe cut her throat with a kitchen knife.

As he held onto her he felt a warm sensation on his back like he hadn't felt before, causing him to moan softly as he could feel the pain melting away from his back, feel the wounds knitting themselves closed as he glanced over his shoulder to see the girl who had brought his mother in giving him a hesitant smile. "Thank you." he whispered softly as he continued to clutch his mother, afraid that if he let her go she would vanish.

"You're welcome," she said softly as she sat down next to him "I was able to close up the wounds but I couldn't stop the scaring, I'm sorry." At that she looked down in embarrassment and a bit of shame.

"Don't be," he said softly as he reached out to take her hand in his own "I think I…I think I need to keep them. To drive me to get stronger so I never have to see someone I care about hurt like that again. I memento that no matter how strong I am there will always be someone stronger.".

She looked at him in surprise before looking to the side with a blush "I'm Melinoe," she said softly "daughter of Hades and Persephone, the goddess of ghosts." As she said her title she winced, as if expecting some sort of revulsion from him.

"Is that how you were able to bring my mother in here and make her solid?" he asked in confusion, not at all bothered by her domain as she looked at him in surprise and, when she nodded, he pulled her into a grateful hug, not noticing the way she stiffened at the contact "Thank you," he said sincerely "for doing this for me.".

"Y-you're welcome," she stammered as he pulled back, he was surprised to see her blushing bright red but he couldn't figure out why "so what sort of powers are you getting from becoming the family's champion of pseudo-champion?".

"Well from me he'll have the ability to sense the strength and powers of other, be able to grow wings from his back, be able to shut off all powers within a certain area including his own for a short time, and his demigod strength is greater." Kratos explained, the god of strength and power being his full patron "While for his armor and weapons I'm giving him a pair of duel blades made of Stygian Iron that cannot be broken, a set of bracers, gauntlets, chest armor, and wing armor made of Stygian Iron.".

"I'll be giving him the Mark of Achilles as well as a Stygian Iron spear that can cause fear in his enemies." Styx said as she smiled down at him, her eyes flicking to his hand that still held Melinoe's causing both him and the goddess of ghosts to blush furiously and yank their hands away.

"I'll give him the power to release a blast of force to push things away and a shield that can stop a boulder." Bia said cheerfully before turning a hawk like gaze on Zelos "And don't you dare call it a force push!".

"F-from me he'll be able to instantly know what drives someone and I'm giving him a ring that can inspire Zeal in his allies." The god of Zeal said, sending nervous and downright fearful glances at the smirking goddess of Force.

Stepping towards him and Melinoe Persephone said with a smile and a confusing gleam in her eyes "From me you'll have the power to control plants, have a pendant that make you gain more energy in sunlight, and permission to date my daughter.". He grinned at the first two eagerly but at the third he flushed beat red and tried to hide his face, noticing Melinoe copying his action out of the corner of his eye while his Mother, Persephone, Styx, and Bia giggled and cooed at them.

"From me," Hades said in a powerful voice that made him flinch after what Persephone had just implied "you shall be able to summon skeleton warriors to aide you in battle and a cloak that not only allows you to shadow travel but call upon the spirits of the dead…and a promise that if you hurt my daughter I will devote an entire are of the fields of punishment just to you.".

Gulping at the threat he nodded quickly to assure the lord of the Dead that he wasn't going to hurt Melinoe….he would have said that he wasn't dating her or wasn't interested in her like that but he knew he already had a crush on the goddess of ghosts and didn't want to do anything that would make her angry.

"Dad!" Melinoe yelled with a bright blush on her face as the other gods and goddesses laughed at the pair's blushes.

-Six years later-

-Road to Camp Half-Blood-

Smiling he took in a deep breath of fresh air, enjoying both the bright and sunny atmosphere as well as having his girlfriend of three years, Melinoe, by his side. After the gods and goddesses had calmed down from their laughing fit they went through the process of officially making him their champion. The rush of having his new powers had been exhilarating as they all worked out when he would train with who to work on mastering all his abilities. It had been hard work, they had pushed him past his breaking point so many times, but he always ended up getting stronger for it.

His mother's spirit had continued to be around and Persephone and Bia quickly joined her in motherly roles while Styx had become his loving grandma. Kratos, Zelos, and Hades had become like fathers to him and he was as close to them as he was to his birth father Poseidon who he still talked to often due to the loophole they found around Zeus' law, while he couldn't physically see his father his father could iris message him whenever he wanted to.

He and Melinoe had finally decided to start dating after Hades threw a Christmas celebration three years ago and both of them had ended up under the Mistletoe. The kiss that they shared had been amazing and was the starting point for the beginning of their relationship which had bloomed since.

Now though he was going to Camp Half-Blood, his father had told him about the Prophecy and felt that he should know the other demigods, as well as have new people to fight against. "There it is," Melinoe said with a smile as they saw the massive pine tree that marked the entrance to camp "are you ready for this Percy?".

Smiling at his girlfriend he gave her a tender kiss before wrapping an arm around her waist "Of course love," he said with a grin "with you by my side I'm ready for anything.".

At his statement Melinoe smiled at him lovingly before laying her head on his shoulder as they crossed over the boundary into camp, noticing Chiron standing in Horse form on the front Porch of the big house. "Well," he said cheerfully "let's go greet a horse." Causing Melinoe to giggle at his description for the ancient trainer of heroes.

As they walked down the hill he saw a surprised Chiron turn to them before trotting over "Are you two demigods?" the wary son of Kronos asked them when they were close enough.

"Yep," he said cheerfully "well for the most part anyway.".

"Care to explain?" Chiron 'asked' even though he could tell it was a demand.

"My name's Percy Jackson and I _am_ a demigod," he explained cheerfully "but I am also the Champion of Kratos, and the Pseudo-Champion of Hades, Persephone, Styx, Bia, and Zelos.".

At the thunderstruck look on Chiron's face he saw the centaur turn from him to his girlfriend and ask almost fearfully "And you?".

"Chiron," Melinoe said with a laugh "I'm hurt you don't recognize me. Then again I don't leave my dad's domain too much. I'm Percy's Girlfriend, Melinoe, goddess of Ghosts.".

"L-lady Melinoe!" Chiron exclaimed in shock bowing as much as his horse body would allow before what she said finally clicked "Wait…boyfriend?!".

Laughing happily he pulled her close and kissed her cheek tenderly "Yeah," he admitted "we've been dating for three years and are still going strong.".

"A-and whose your birth parent?" Chiron asked him with trepidation.

"Where's the fun in that?" he asked with a wide grin "Dad's the one who told me to come to camp and said he was going to wait for the most dramatic moment he could to claim me.".

"You two are going to cause me no end of headaches…aren't' you?" the centaur asked with an exhausted sigh.

"We'll try not to," he assured the centaur "but we will deal with a problem if we see it…and just so you know I find other people ogling my girlfriend a problem and will deal with them _my way_." He finished in a darker voice as he called upon his powers of Hades, letting a shadowy aura to envelop him while Melinoe and Chiron both shivered, albeit for different reasons.

"Come on Percy," Melinoe said huskily "you know doing that voice always turns me on.".

"I know love," he said with a grin as he stole a quick kiss, enjoying his girlfriend's whimper at the contact "that's part of the reason I do it.".

"I need a drink." Chiron groaned before trotting back to the big house.


	3. Chapter 3

**AN: There's a picture of how I see Melinoe for this story on the Facebook for my works. Also, I'm looking for someone interested in drawing commissions for these stories in exchange for me 'advertising' for them. If you're interested in that PM me.**

**AN2: I'll try to make a good sketch of Percy and Melinoe's cabin and post it on the Facebook when I can.**

The Meaning of Power

Chapter Three

-Percy-

"So Mel," he asked as they walked hand in hand down to the main part of the camp, "you want to make our own little cabin, wait for dad to claim me, or bunk with the Hermes kids?"

Melinoe just shot him a deadpan expression, "You seriously have to ask that Percy? We're making our own cabin! No way am I bunking with that many people."

"That's not the way things work here." An unknown and exceedingly arrogant voice spoke up off to the side as they turned to see a demigoddess, a daughter of Athena judging by the eyes, had been eavesdropping.

"Guess they aren't big on manners judging by owl shit over there." He shrugged, not caring at the scowl that adorned the blonde's features.

"Some are, most of us are more interested in the fight itself." Another new voice spoke up as he saw a group of large and burly campers led by an attractive brunette, "Name's Clarisse, daughter of Ares. Now you newbies will have to go through the initiation."

Having heard of the stupid 'initiation ritual' that the Ares cabin liked doing to new campers he spoke up, "Here's a better idea. Instead of some stupid swirly in the camp toilet how about a fight in the arena instead? You say this is a camp for warriors and you're the strongest heir of the god of war? Then prove it. Make showing your strength the initiation."

Clarisse looked ready to argue before pausing and thinking about his words, "Alright newbie, you got a deal. I'll see you in the arena in an hour so you have a chance to get a weapon." With that the Ares campers all lumbered off, snickering loudly at the upcoming 'beating'.

"You're going to get your ass kicked you know." The blonde from before snorted derisively "An untrained demigod has no chance against the leader of the Ares cabin."

"Oh go eat some porridge goldilocks." Melinoe brushed the words off, "Percy can handle her."

"Don't say I didn't warn you." The blonde shrugged before jogging off to the cabins.

"How much should I hold back?" he asked Melinoe when he was sure nobody else was around.

After humming thoughtfully his girlfriend gave him a mischievous grin, "You defeat her without using a weapon or armor and only five percent of your strength and speed…and I'll give you a _reward_ later." Shivering at the tone Melinoe used he quickly agreed as they made their way to the Arena. Over the course of the hour until the match the rest of the camp trickled into the stands, even Chiron showed up to 'referee' the fight.

"Are the combatants ready?" Chiron called out as he stood relaxed in his street clothes, much to the mocking amusement of the rest of the camp while Clarisse was decked out in full armor and with an electric spear, judging by the smell of Ozone.

"Yes Chiron." Clarisse said with the bearing of a soldier.

"Yep." He said with an uncaring shrug.

"Then begin!" Chiron quickly backed up as Clarisse charged forward with the spear, likely planning to zap him and finish the entire 'fight' in one move. The second before she would have reached him he slid underneath and to the side of the thrust, using a palm strike on her elbow to send the spear father away and throw her off balance.

Using the momentum of his slide he dropped and spun around, sweeping Clarisse's feet out from underneath her before rolling back to get out of range of a counterattack. As he sprung back up to his feet he saw that the jeers had stopped and been replaced with shock.

"Not bad newbie," Clarisse grunted, spitting on the ground as she climbed back to her feet "but that same trick won't work twice."

"Don't worry, I have many more tricks." He assured her with a grin.

"He's quite tricky like that." Melinoe agreed from the sidelines.

"Whatever. Let's fight!" Clarisse yelled and rushed at him again, this time holding the spears to use it like a staff as he leapt up and over both the demigoddess and the strike, grabbing the back of her armor as he descended and slammer her to the ground. Kicking aside her spear he quickly put the daughter of Ares in a pin, making sure it could in no way look like he was trying to get a feel as he didn't want rumors or a pissed off girlfriend, until Clarisse finally admitted defeat when she couldn't get out.

"Winner!" Chiron declared "Perseus Jackson! Unclaimed demigod, Champion of Kratos, Pseudo Champion of Hades, Persephone, Zelos, Bia, and Styx!" The arena was silent but the shock was palpable in the air after Chiron's announcement.

Said silence was shattered when Clarisse let out a deep belly laugh, "Well that explains how you beat me. Nice job Prissy! Alright girly, you ready to fight?" Clarisse asked Melinoe.

"The ancient laws won't allow me to unless you attack first." Melinoe smirked as she walked over and hugged him from behind, her chin resting on his shoulder.

"But I thought those were…for…oh gods." Clarisse groaned.

"Goddess actually." Melinoe corrected cheerfully, "I am Melinoe, the daughter of Hades and Persephone as well as the goddess of ghosts. But most importantly I'm Percy's girlfriend of three years." As she spoke Melinoe moved to stand next to him, her image blurring before her outfit changed. Before she had been wearing skinny jeans, a black tank top, and a dark red leather jacket she now wore a form fitting black dress and heels.

Deciding to follow her lead he summoned the shadows around him as he called out his armor and weapons. He had hoplite armor made of stygian iron on his arms, chest, and legs as well as a stygian iron helmet with the plume made of Greek fire. At his shoulders he had his twin swords resting between his wings while his spear was gripped in his right hand, the shield blocking the left.

Clarisse is gaping at them before she realized something, "Wait a minute you were holding back!" the demigoddess exclaimed angrily.

"No weapons and five percent of my full strength and speed…and I still kicked your ass." He smirked, propping the spear from Styx up against his shoulder.

"Yeah right." The voice of the blonde from before scoffed derisively "You may have won but there's no way you were holding back that much."

"Listen bird brain," he snapped, not too fond of the House of Athena after what the goddess of Wisdom had done along with Zeus "you've spent what, a good five years here getting trained by Chiron and other demigods? I've spent the past six years getting trained by my patrons as well as the greatest demigods and warriors in Elysium. I am stronger than you are so get over yourself and accept it." As he spoke an aura of black and green energy swirled around him, billowing with his anger as Melinoe let out a small shiver.

"So," Chiron asked, trotting over in an attempt to break the awkward, and somewhat oppressive, silence from his statement "are you going to join Perseus in the Hermes cabin Lady Melinoe? Or would you prefer a room in the big house if you intend to stay here?"

"Neither." Mel said as she linked her arm with his "I shall be creating a cabin for myself and Percy to use while in the camp.

"Um…that's not exactly-" Chiron began nervously only to gulp in fear when Melinoe's eyes began to glow angrily, "That'll be fine!" the ancient centaur exclaimed quickly.

"You two are going to give me no end of headaches, aren't you?" a portly man in a tiger print Hawaiian shirt, who looked like he was suffering from the mother of all hangovers.

"Probably." Mel shrugged as she linked her arm with his, "But we'll probably be giving your father even more so you can watch him suffering through them for him making you work here." As she spoke he pieced together that this was Dionysus.

The god of wine groans, "Just don't cause father to make my punishment worse and we'll be fine, alright?"

"Got it." Mel said happily as she rested her head on his shoulder, "Now if you'll excuse us we have to go make our cabin."


End file.
